Spring construction



Oct. 14, 1952' A. MOUW SPRING CONSTRUCTION Filed May 14, 1945 IN V ENTOR. firziren/ )f zzm BY W, Yfzux.

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Patented Oct. 14, 1952 UNITED STATES mm oFFicE SPRING CONSTRUCTIONAndrew Mouw, Huntington Woods, Mich., as-

signor to No-Sag Spring Company, Detroit, Mich.,a corporation ofMichigan Application May 14, 1945, Serial No. 593,713

- 2 Claims. 1 f

This invention relates to spring construction and particularly to aSpring seat construction made from spring strips having border elementssupported thereabout to provide a soft edge at the front and sides ofthe seat.

The invention pertainsto the use of sinuous spring strips which are seton an arc of small diameter onthe longitudinal axis of the strip toprovide resistance against downward deflection when the ends are drawnoutwardly and anchored to opposite elements of a frame. The frame may bea separate element or may be that of a chair, davenport, mattress, orsimilar spring construction. A hard edge will be formed where the springstrips are attached along the frame. In the present arrangement, wireelements are provided around the frame above the top edge thereof whichare supported on the spring strips.

At the front edge of the frame the U-shaped spring elements areemployed, having hook ends which extend under and over adjacentconvolutions of the spring strips to provide a spring support for thefront portion of the border wire which deflect with the strips. At thesides of the frame, jack springs are employed having one arm attached tothe side frame members, while the other arm is secured to the borderwire. At the rear of the frame the spring strips are secured to pivotalU-shaped elements, which permits the spring end to be deflecteddownwardly below the top ofthe frame. This clip is employed when a backis utilized on the seat frame construction to produce greaterflexibility and softness to the main supporting portion of the seat. Thespring strips adjacent the side frame elements are secured to the sideportions of the border wire by U-shaped elements which are hooked over aconvolution of the strip and attached to the border wire by the ends ofthe leg portions of the elements. Suitable padding and trim material areapplied to the top of the spring structure and border wire whichprovides shape to the top surface of the frame, the edges of which aredeflectable with the spring strips and independent thereof to provide asoft edge at the sides and front of the cushion the rear edge of whichis downwardly deflectable.

Accordingly, the main objects of the invention are: to form a springsurface for a seat from a plurality of sinuous spring strips and providea soft edge at the sides and front of the seat by securing springelements to the strips and the frame which resiliently support a borderwire above the seat frame; to pivotally secure a plurality of sinuousspring strips across a frame and resiliently support a border element atthe sides and front'above the frame edge which is deflectable therewithand independent thereof;

to-secure the ends of sinuous spring strips in arms pivotally attachedto alframe and to support the strips adjacent to the sides of the frame'by U-shaped elements having the web portions extended over one of itsconvolutions and the end portions secured to a border wire extending,above the frame; and, in general, to form a spring surface having asoft edge at the sides and front which is simple in construction andeconomical of manufacture;

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will bespeciflcallypointed out or will become apparent when referring, for abetter understanding of the invention, to the followin description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chair having a spring surfaceembodying features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational viewof the frame and spring structure employedin the back of the chair illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a broken view of the frame and spring construction employedin'the seat of the chair illustrated in Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFig. 3, taken on line 4-4 thereof; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFig. 3,taken on the line 5-5 thereof.

The chair illustrated in .Fig. l, by way of example, has a seat portioni0 of such construction that the side and front edges are deflectable.The back portion ll embodies a spring surface l2 which is covered withupholstering material [3 in the conventional manner. In Fig. 2, the backof the chair is illustrated as being made from extended leg elements l4having a bottom cross member [5 and a top cross member l6. Between thecross members I5 and I6 a plurality of spring strips H are secured bypivotally attaching .the end portions IS in the clips l9 which arenailed or otherwise secured to the cross members. The springs ll aremade of wire which is bent back and forth in sinuous form and set on anarc alongthe longitudinal axis of the strip following the teaching ofthe Kaden reissue patent, Re. 21,263. The springs are interconnected toeach other and to the leg elements [4 by a plurality of coil springs 2|bent to form an eye at each end which hooks over adjacent convolutionsof the spring strips ll. The ends of the coil springs adjacent to theleg members l4 may be bent normal to the spring axis and be drivendirectlyinto the frame or may be secured to pins 23 as hereinillustrated having a head or an eye on their projecting ends.

The seat portion l0 embodies a frame constructed of a front member 24,side members 25,

, and a rear member 26. 'Front legs 21are atposed thereabove.

tached to the front of the frame for supporting the front edge of thechair. The plurality of spring strips H are stretched across the frameelements 24 and 26 and are secured in position by clips I9 at the frontend and by U-shaped elements 23 at the rear end. The elements 23 havetheir web portions secured by clips l9 which are attached to the rearframe member 26. This permits the rear portion of the spring strips I!to deflect below the top of the frame member 25 when a load is appliedto the spring surface formed by the strips. The spring strips areinter-' connected between the side members 25 rality of wire clips 29.

U-shaped elements 31-, having arm portions 30 laterally extended at 32,are-hooked ove1.a-'c0nvolution of the strips H which are disposedadjacent'to the side frame members 25. A border wire 33 extends aroundthe frame along both the side members 25 and across the frame member 24and is supported thereabove at the front by a plurality of springelements 34 and at the sides by the elements 3| which provide a softedge to the resulting cushion. Thetwo ends 36 of the border wire arebent inwardly and are secured by staples 31 to the rear surface of therear frame member 26. Clips I9 secure the laterally extending portions32 of the U-shaped elements 3| to the border wire portions disposedabove the side frame members 25. The border wire resists the inwarddeflection of the spring strips and extends the spring surface to theedge of the side frame members providing a soft edge to the cushiondisby a plu- The spring-supporting elements 34 are similar to thoseillustrated, described and claimed in the patent to Louis T. Mayer, No.2,356,417,'issued 'August 22, 1944, and assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention. The element 34 is made of wire bent in U shape havingends 38 reversely bent into S shape to extend under and over adjacentportions of a convolution of the spring strips to resiliently supportthe web portion 39 above the border frame. Suitable clips 4! secure theweb portion 39 of the spring elements 34 to the border wire 33 at thefront of the seat portion l0. Jack springs 35 have lateral projectingarm 42 attached to the border wire at the sides by the clips 41 and tothe side frame members 25 to further support the border wire thereabove..Suitable padding and upholstering'trim material 44 3 is secured overthe spring surface and the border wire 33, as illustrated in Fig. 5,which provides a desired form to the seat surface and a soft edge at thesides and frontof the seat frame.

When the seat is occupied, the main 'loa'dis supported by the springstrips I! which will be deflected downwardly due to the resiliency ofthe strips and the downward movement of the rear ends of the strips onthe U-shaped elements 28. A soft edge is provided to the sides and frontof the seat by the border wire 33 which is permitted to deflect due tothe resiliency of the supporting elements 3!, 34 andthejack springs 35.-In the spring construction herein provided, which may be extended 'toother spring structures besides that of the chair herein illustrated, afreely deflectable main load-supporting surface is formed having a rearedge-which 'is free to move downwardly with a resilient borderelementextending above the rigid side and front frame members supported on theload-supporting surface: to provide softness to the side andfront edgesand form to-the-upholstering and padding material which isstretchedt'hereover.

4. What is claimed is: 1. In a spring construction having a frame andspaced parallel sinuous springs, means securing the'sinuous springs atopposite ends to the front and rear edges of the frame to provide aresiilent web to the sinuous springs to which the ends of V the arms aresecured, and similar spring elements supporting the corners of theborder wire at the junction of the arm and web portions thereof, withthe ends of the arms of the spring elements secured to the sidemostsinuous springs of the assembly at the outer side edges thereof;

2. In a spring construction having a frame, spaced parallel sinuoussprings attached at the front end directly to the front edge of theframe, U-shaped clips having the web portion secured tov the rear edgeof the frame, with the arms extending therefrom provided with eyes forreceiving the rear ends of the sinuous springs and supporting the endson the rear edge of the frame, aiU-shaped border Wire having a Webportion disposed parallel to the front edge of the frame and having armsextending therefrom disposed along the sides of the frame, means forresiliently holding the front edge of the border wire above the frontedge portion of the sinuous springs so as to provide a soft front edgeto the assembly, said means comprising U-shaped wire spring elementseach having a lateral web secured to the border wire at the front edgeof the frame with longitudinal armsextending rearwardly from the webbetween two adjacent, sinuous springs to which the ends of the arms aresecured, and similar spring elements supporting the corners of theborder wire at the junction of the arm and web portions thereof, withtheends of the arms of the spring elements secured to the sidemostsinuous springs of the assembly at the outer side edges thereof. a r

ANDREW MOUW.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 946,125 Hachmann Jan. 11, 19101,958,481 Lee May 15, 1934 2,106,644 Menge Jan. 25, 1938 2,149,350. Klqpman Mar. 7, 1939 2,234,253 Hopkes Mar. 11, 1941 2,248,093 Kronheim July8, 1941 2,250,486 Kronheim July 29, 1941 2,260,981 Shanahan Oct. 28,1941 7 2,285,827, Neely June 9, 1942 2,294,534 Berger Sept. 1, 19422,341,015 Blumensaadt et al. Feb. 8, 1944 2,356,417 Mayer -1- Aug. 22,1944 2,551,800 Hopkes May 8, I951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date-27,878 Great Britain d..." Dec, 12, 1911

